1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a notepad or notebook computer interface that facilitates input via a pen and, more particularly, to a system that provides interface elements particularly suitable for pen-based input to, and interaction with, electronic documents.
2. Description of the Related Art
Making electronic information as handy as paper requires an interaction model which is somewhat different than conventional systems. Documents, the primary form in which people obtain and produce information, are most familiar and manipulable in the form of paper pages. What is needed is a notepad or notebook computer based system that allows the easy manipulation of document pages. Marking on documents directly, with a pen, provides the most leverage of human motor skills for adding to and interacting with documents. What is needed is a pen based method of marking on and interacting with documents within a notepad or notebook computer.
Organizing information for recall is best done according to one""s own experience and mental associations, i.e. xe2x80x9cwhen, where I saw it lastxe2x80x9d, and xe2x80x9cwhat I think it""s related to.xe2x80x9d What is needed is a system that will organize documents according to the user""s experience and mental model.
Such a device and its software needs to: render in pages, favoring a portrait aspect ratio and dedicating as much of the screen as possible to displaying the page; support tasks via transitional user interface (U/I) elements which may appear inside or outside or overlapping with the page, and which are controlled directly with the tip of the actual pen (there is no other representation of the pen""s location) taking into account the user""s left or right-handedness, with appearance and behaviors that are both obvious and unobtrusive, easy-to learn and efficient; and support the layering of ink and transitional U/I elements over the content in ways that minimize obstruction of the content and include presentation of such transitional elements in a way which exploits the viewer""s ability to resolve overlapping and translucent images. Additionally, the system must support text entry via the pen, but not let the conversion of pen input to text impede the perceived natural flow of events.
A notebook computer should behave and allow interaction with it in a manner similar to interaction with a paper notebook. Likewise, a notepad computer should behave and allow interaction with it in a manner similar to interaction with a paper notepad. For example, when flipping pages of paper the user can separate a corner of the page from a stack to make it easier to flip. The position of the user within a stack of pages of a paper is readily visible via looking at the edge of the stack. A paper user can change pens (inks) with the simple motion of picking up another pen. What is needed is an interface that provides such functions simply and intuitively.
It is an object of the present invention to provide user interface elements along a side of the page that allow the behavior of the system to be changed in a pop-up mode and that do not obscure the page.
It is another object of the present invention to provide input menu pallets that consider the relation of the user""s hand to the page, to the corresponding side edge of the display, and to limited numbers and types of selections.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a page region specifically designated for flipping the pages, but to otherwise allow the user to mark pages directly for input.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide both an ability to convert handwriting to text after the writing, and a writing region adjacent to which converted text characters appear on the page during the writing, in specific relation to the writing region.
It is an additional object of the present invention to allow documents to be stacked and manipulated with a simple unambiguous organizational metaphor.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a system where both the location and orientation of the pen act to determine its function.
The above objects can be attained by a system that includes a page display region displaying a page of a document on which a user can write using a pen or stylus type writing tool. The page occupies substantially all of the display region. Associated with the page is an interface that can be used with the pen. The interface includes a core task tool region adjacent to the page where tool icons are partially visible until the pen is brought near one of the icons, at which time it becomes fully visible. The icons can pop-up radial marking menus located near an edge of the document where all the menu choices are located in a semi-circle away from the edge, so that the user""s hand, while holding the pen and making a selection, does not block the choices. A page flipping tool is located in a corner of the page and is a two-stroke radial marking pop-up menu limiting the menu choices to opposite directions of pen movement and allowing selection of a next or previous page. A page scrolling tool can optimally be located along each edge of the page and allows scrolling in each appropriate direction. The interface also includes a stack region adjacent to the page display region having one or more stack icons each representing a stack of documents. Each stack icon is also a two-stroke radial pop-up marking menu having forward and backward choices for selecting documents in the stack. The interface also includes a typing tool which can overlay a portion of the page and includes a writing zone where a user handwrites text, and an adjacent page zone which is part of the page where typed text corresponding to the handwritten strokes is displayed as the handwriting occurs.
These together with other objects and advantages which will be subsequently apparent, reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.